[sPOILERS!!] Darth Jar Jar in the wake of Empire's end? Interesting dualities with Jar Jar's portrayal And more!

STOP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS FOR EMPIRE'S END

With that out of the way, I want to address some "interesting" things of note with the Empire's End spoilers that came out. Unfortunately, there was no ending scene where Jar Jar was outed as sith. What we did get was him being a clown who performs at an orphanage for children. We also see him have a close relationship with a particular child, named Mapo....who I'll get to later on in this thread.

Anyway...on the surface, this seems like a big "FU" to the Darth Jar Jar theory, yet when you look deeper at what we got from the spoilers, it seems in fact to be more of a very subtle nod to it and possibly foreshadowing of something more What do I mean? Well, in the same book, we find out that Chewbaca's son was re-canonized, and his name is Waroo, which when paired with Jar Jar's re-appearance could very well be a subtle nod to Lumpy. Even further, if they where going to bring back Jar Jar, why do it like this? I mean, if they really wanted to kill DJJ, why not just kill Jar Jar off? With so many fans who hate Jar Jar Binks, why not just kill the Gungan instead of try to make him some tragic, sympathetic figure? Heck, if that's the case, why even bring him back at all? I mean, Empire's end is primarily about the battle of Jakku, and Palpatine's legacy. Why bring back Jar Jar in a seemingly insignificant scene? To show how bad the empire is? If that's the case, then why use Jar Jar Binks, a character that so many fans hate They could have easily done that with some random senator down on their luck. Why use Jar Jar when so many fans hate his guts?

Well, perhaps the Jar Jar interlude has more to it then we think. What if instead of just a breif asside, pointless to the plot, it actually has been included for a reason pertinent to episode 8? I'd like to draw your attention to two things. The first is that, via both tweets and this book it is heavily implied that "Snoke" was reaching out with the force to directly manipulate Ben Solo in the womb. This implies that Snoke was/is interested in Ben from day 1, and that he is more concerned with corrupting Ben then any kind of imperial buildup.

Secondly, it is also revealed that Gallius Rax, despite what we all thought, was not the most trusted adviser of Palpatine. While Gallius was tasked with re-building the empire, the more important mission to Palpatine, finding out the nature of that "dark side power" in unknown space, fell to a different and currently unknown individual just called "the imperitor." This mysterious figure is the heir to Palpatine's legacy and the one who would lead the rebuilt empire in his contingency plan, yet he is totally absent from the rebuilding of the empire? Perhaps because he was more interested in the force side of things and, trying to get Ben Solo on his side from the womb.

So how does this connect to Jar Jar and Mapo? Well, it has to do with the ever-mysterious character that will be played by Benicio Del Toro in The Last Jedi. We have no clue who he is going to play. While the assumption is he will be some kind of criminal overlord or casino mogul, that's not backed by any hard evidence and leaks from the set actually refer to him as a "man in black" and "dangerous" While that could fit a crime boss, most of the criminals we see don't dress in all black nor do they try to look outright meancing. Most of them are either repulsive aliens (like the hutts), rough-looking types in brown leathers and similar attire or smooth, charismatic, and approachable-looking individuals like Lando. What Benicio Del Toro was described as seems more like a Knight of Ren, Sith or other dark side force user.

Why is this important? Well, in Empire's end, we see Jar Jar has a close "bond" with a particular orphan named Mapo who he has taken under his wing. At the time he has this "boy" under his wing, Kylo Ren is still an unborn child in the womb. Kylo Ren is 29-30 during the time of the force awakens, and Mapo is stated to be 10 at the time of Empire's End. This would put him in his 40s during the time of TFA...about the right age to be played by Benicio Del Toro if he is, in fact, Jar Jar's future dark side apprentice, as some have jokingly said.

So how does this connect with Snoke? Well, one of the things that keeps standing out about Snoke is that Leia and Han seemed to know him personally. Some have speculated that he may have been a politician, but there is been a lot of great arguments made that snoke seems unconcerned with politics and is more of a spiritual/religious leader, being more akin to a priest instead of Palpatine who was clearly a politician. While these theories argue he is tied with the church of the force and that is how he was able to get access to Ben and turn him to the dark side, what if his connection to Ben, Leia and Han was much closer to home, and much more insidious?

We see Jar Jar is "good with kids" in Empire's End...so what if at some point it's revealed that Jar Jar was taken on as a nanny/caretaker type figure for a young Ben Solo? With Leia being involved with politics, she'd need such a person to care for Ben. She'd be busy constantly, and with Han MIA somebody would have to pick up the slack. While they could just hire a random nanny, why not go with somebody who has a history with the family...somebody who kids love...who's silly, and has a "good heart?" Somebody like Jar Jar? This makes a lot more sense than some random crusty old dark-sider from unknown space, a priestly figure from the church of the force or a random politician being close enough to Ben to turn him into Kylo. Instead of being a distant mentor, Snoke would literally be the hand that rocked Ben Solo's cradle, and you know what they say about the hand that rocks the cradle...

As for how Jar Jar also took control of the first order? Palpatine saw to that. If Jar Jar is Snoke, then it is also safe to assume he is the "imperitor" mentioned earlier, and thus the rightful heir to the empire under Palpatine's contingency plan. So while Rax and others may have rebuilt the empire, it was Palpatine's wish that the Imperitor, Jar Jar, inehiret it...and so Jar Jar does, as Snoke. However, it's also assumed that Jar Jar has been at the orphanage for all 10 years of Mapo's life...so how is he both there, and finding the source of the Dark Side in unknown space?

Well, while the imperitor is said to be searching for that source, it's never once claimed that he actually was flying around on a ship in unknown space, as far as I know. We do know however that snoke can seemingly influence Kylo in the womb from across lightyears of space, meaning he can sense, and interact with, force energies and even individuals sensitive to the force over vast distances. So with that in mind, who is to say that instead of literally searching for Palpatine's dark side power in unknown space aboard a ship, the Impeirator was not instead searching for that source in the same way Palpatine was...through dark side meditation and the force itself? Of course, if one was going to devote significant time to dark side meditation and searching for a dark side wellspring by reaching out into unknown space via the force, they would need to be able to interact with the force and force-sensitive beings over vast distances and would likely need to keep a position that provided minimal distractions from their main "work" of finding that source

Likewise, they'd need to keep a low profile to make sure luke's new Jedi and other goodly types didn't find out the work they where doing. Jar Jar's transformation from Senator to Clown now seems to make a lot more sense. I mean, even with the senate being dissolved, you'd expect an ex-senator to be doing pretty well for themselves, no? I mean, all the former senators we've seen (Leia, Mon Mothma etc..) seem to be pretty well off even after the senate dissolves, despite the fact they no longer have their political positions...so what are we suposted to think...that Jar Jar somehow squandered all the wealth he had as a respected politician and ended up being forced to be a clown?

It just seems odd for a former senator to fall so low so fast, even one thats meant to be an "idiot" like Jar Jar.....perhaps instead he took up the clown position because it provides minimal effort as a job, leaving him ample time to pursue other interests, as well as allowing him to keep a low profile. Perhaps he is doing as the Sith did in the early years of the Banite Order, keeping low while slowly working with the force to move things in his favor...

Perhaps while Gallius Rax handles the political and military work of restoring the empire, Jar Jar is working on discovering lost dark side mysteries via reaching out towards that source of the dark side in unknown space....

As for Mapo? Well, if we assume he is Del Toro's character in TLJ (which is totally baseless speculation on my part) he is described as having an "all black costume" and being thought of as "dangerous" but "not an enemy" by the resistance/heroes. While most have assumed this means he will be a gangster-type, what if instead Del Toro/Mapo represents the last of the Sith just as Luke represents the last of the Jedi? What if, as Jar Jar grew closer to that source of the dark side Palpatine sought, what he learned from it made him abandon the Sith way entirely, and thus also his budding Sith apprentice, Mapo? Jar Jar (who could still be Plagueis, BTW) could have "traded" the Sith order and Mapo for Ben Solo and a new tradition founded on the ancient mysteries he unearthed through his force work...which is why Mapo, now a full-fledged Sith and the last vestige of the Sith order, is an uneasy ally of the resistance. Heck, he still could be a crime lord and a Sith at the same time, pursuing power as any sith would, but through a criminal route rather that a political one.

With the "resolving of grey" being a big theme in the sequel trilogy, I think it would be interesting to see dark and light, Jedi and Sith, working in tandem and ultimately being "killed off" to usure in a new generation of grey force users who are neither Jedi nor sith, represented by Rey (and possibly Ben/Kylo if he gets redeemed). Under this theory, Luke represents the last of the Jedi while Mapo/Del Toro represents the last of the Sith, and Rey will end up learning from both of them, taking in knowledge from both sides of the force, to defeat the source of all the problems....originator of the skywalker bloodline...and former master of Palpatine....the fool...the magician....Supreme Leader Snoke/Jar Jar Binks/Darth Plagueis.

Now, all of this is baseless speculation and a fair bit of stretching on my part, but it does make for a fairly coherent story despite, no? I know there are some holes (how did he go from imperitor to clown?) but I have filling for those, just not the time to write them down. I'll keep editing this OP accordingly as this theory grows...So yeah, baseless speculation, but fun none the less. Thoughts and opinions welcome!